1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a cooling device for turns of rolled wire which, overlapping one another, are spread out on a horizontal conveyor and cooled by air which can be supplied through transverse slots below the conveyor in an intensity which can be varied over the width of the turns of a packet.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
In the prior art, such cooling devices are used to achieve controlled modifications of the metallurgical characteristics of rolled wire by means of controlled cooling. On installations of this type, the rolled wire is spread out by a rotating wire turn spreader into individual turns which, when placed on a conveyor, lie flat overlapping one another, whereby the size of the overlaps is a function of the transport speed of the conveyor.
On account of the accumulations of the material contained in the wire turns in the peripheral zones of the packets of wire rings formed in this manner, increased peripheral cooling is necessary. For this purpose, it has been proposed that the air flow nozzles be distributed over the diameter of the turns and the transport direction, so that the amount of cooling air available can be distributed as a function of the material accumulations. This has the disadvantage that the arrangement of nozzles cannot be optionally set for all the different wire diameters, transport speeds and grades of rolled steel, and that with this arrangement, a uniform cooling of the wire turns of a rolling program cannot be achieved.
The prior art also includes a solution in which the cooling air delivered by a fan is deflected in the air shaft, ahead of the nozzles below the conveyor, by air distribution valves and deflectors, so that it becomes possible to divide the air between two peripheral zones and one central zone. This proposal has the disadvantage that the division of the amounts of air and the adjustment of the airflow speed can only be made between the central region and the peripheral zones. The material accumulation, however, which for spread out wire turns increases parabolically outward, requires a more precisely adjustable feed of cooling air than is possible with this cooling system. There are also flow losses and turbulence inside the air feed shaft on account of additional valves, control rods and bearings.